Thursday, October 9, 2008

By Popular Demand....a Hooded Towel Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Joy, asking if I would share the pattern for the hooded towels I wrote about here.

Well, I don't really have a pattern, but I told her I would be happy to type up some instructions and send them her way. When I sat down to write, I found that some things just didn't make sense without photographs. So I decided to write a tutorial for hooded towels. I'm sure there are many hooded towel tutorials out there, but sometimes a different person will have a different technique/perspective/explanation.

Now, this is my very first tutorial, so please bear with me!

Supplies Needed:

One full size bath towel

One hand towel (this will be cut in half, so one hand towel will make two hooded towels)

Approx. 1/2 yd of ribbon of your choice for trim

Thread to match the towels

1. Cut hand towel in half and serge or zig-zag the raw edge.

2. Fold the finished edge over until it covers the textured border of the towel, about 2 inches.

3. Stitch. Use whatever seam allowance you're comfortable with. I use 3/8" a lot because it's an easy one to measure on my machine....it falls right at the edge of my presser foot.

4. Pin the ribbon along the finished edge that you folded over.

5. Stitch ribbon in place by sewing along both edges of the ribbon.

6. Fold the hand towel in half, inside out (ribbon to the inside), matching finished edges.

7. Stitch along serged (zig-zagged) edge, starting from open, finished side and stopping about 2/3 of the way to the folded edge.

8. Open the hole along the edge you just stitched and flatten perpendicular to the seam.

9. Stitch.

10. Turn right side out, and there's the hood!

11. Find the center of the large bath towel, mark with a pin. Make two wide, flat pleats, each about 2 inches wide and 2.5 inches from the center. (I never measure these, just "guesstimate")See pics.

12. Pin the hood to the bath towel along the finished edges of the hood, right sides together, matching the center seam of the hood to the center of the bath towel. (It will be finished edges that are being stitched together.) Stitch, making sure to go slowly over the pleats (they will be bulky). I like to stitch this seam twice, just to give it some extra strength.

(View of inside of hooded towel after hood is stitched to bath towel)

13. If desired, zig-zag over your stitched seams on the inside (where the hood and towel were attached) to flatten them. Be careful not to zig-zag over your ribbon trim because it would show on the other side!

14. And now your hooded towel is finished!

I always like to fold them up nicely and tie with the same ribbon I used for the trim.....

hooded towels at toddlertowels.comOur Towels -Toddler Towels are hooded towels designed especially for kids aged 0 to 10 years.What makes our towels so popular are the hoods. Unlike other hooded towels on the market, our towels are tailored to the shape of the head. There are no cone-heads here!The body of the towel is actually an adult sized towel (30X54in) that is soft, durable, and plush. All towels are machine washable and dryable.(Non-chlorine bleach when needed)The ribbon & fabric we use with our hooded towels turn a quality functional towel into a fun towel.Many of our towels are priced at an affordable $24.99. Our premium Toddler Towels are priced at $27.99. These take more material and are more labor intensive. We are now offering organic hooded towels for only $27.99 and $32.99 If you are not satisfied with our towels for any reason you can either do an exchange or get a full refund.A child in your life is sure to love one!